number seven

7. David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. My earliest memories of David Bowie are the "Let's Dance" video, which was played all the time on MTV for a while, and the other songs from "Let's Dance." But though I liked "Let's Dance" a lot (and it was a hell of an album), I was too lazy or apathetic or whatever to really check out the other shizzle from David Bowie's past.

I mean, sure, I heard "Starman" and "Young Americans" and whatnot on the radio or at parties. I had plenty of exposure to his greatest hits album. But here's my quibble with greatest-hits albums, and AOR, and that kind of thing: they leave some really good songs behind. And Ziggy Stardust was loaded with good songs, beyond "Starman" and the title track (although the song "Ziggy Stardust" probably defines David Bowie more than any other of his songs, I would say).

So, a few years ago, I was driving home and happened to hear "Moonage Daydream" on the radio, and it blew me away. I had just not heard it before, to my recollection. And roughly around the same time, the Wes Anderson movie "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," with all those great bossa nova covers by Pele, came out. And I just gained a huge new appreciation for David Bowie and his musical accomplishments.

Amazing, isn't it? This album came out just a few years after I was born, and I didn't come to fully appreciate it until just a few years ago. I guess that's as good an argument as any to play Tegan and Sara for your kids right now.